Gov. Josh Green signed 22 health and behavioral care bills into law this week.
Some of the measures highlighted in the bill-signing ceremony seek to improve the long-term care and recovery for people with substance abuse, mental health issues and those who are homeless.
There were also bills to bolster the state's health care workforce.
“Some of the bills I'm going to describe are meant to really look at this view of health care to get people well, to not just rely on extraordinary work … when someone needs a surgery or someone has an infection. There's a different kind of infection in society and that is poverty and desperation,” Green said at the ceremony.
Senate Bill 3139 establishes a Crisis Intervention and Diversion Services Program within the state Department of Health.
The law expands services used to divert some patients with mental health issues to appropriate health care workers and services, rather than have them return to living situations that don’t encourage recovery.
House Bill 2159 changes state law involving mental health services to streamline access.
Senate Bill 3094 creates a working group to develop a framework for peer support specialists, who have been shown to help in mental and behavioral health treatments. Another measure will provide $876,000 for six positions within the Office of Wellness and Resilience, where the working group will be housed.
House Bill 1827 addresses a shortage of health care workers in Hawaiʻi by providing nearly $1 million in funding for equipment and training at public high schools. It also allocates $750,000 for a health care workforce certification program that can be matched 3-to-1 in a public-private partnership.
The bill also sets aside $700,000 for the Healthcare Workforce Initiative's glide path program, which offers an “earn-and-learn” route for nurse aides to become licensed practical nurses. A 3-to-1 match with private funds brings the total allocation to $2.8 million for the glide path program.
Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaiʻi (HAH), focused on HB1827 and the dire need for health care workers in the state.
“One of the realities we face in the state of Hawaiʻi right now is that it's not just about training workers, and it's not just about recruiting workers. It's equally important to retain workers because we are losing workers every single day,” Raethel said.
“One of the things that this bill does is that it not only does it help train people in our public high schools, it also provides career pathways for people to advance,” he added.
In a 2022 report, the HAH found there were nearly 4,000 openings in health care facilities in the state.
